President Obama visits Sarens SGC-120

US President Barack Obama visited the work site of the Sarens SGC-120 super heavy lift crane.

The crane is on its first job, in Phoenix, Arizona, where it is working on the construction of a production hall for the steel industry. As part of its job, the SGC-120 is positioning 165 metre beams, weighing 325 US tons (295 tonnes), at a radius of 156 m. The manufacturing site will create 1,000 jobs.

President Obama visited the Arizona site as part of his five-state tour earlier in 2012. Talking about the crane, he said, "I'm told that right there is the world's largest land-based crane. I decided I had to check this out for myself because who wants to miss out on a chance to see the crane? That thing is huge."